Stay
by shadow243ali
Summary: “But it’s better this way, right?” He nodded, pushing past the lump that tightly rested in his throat, forcing the word out despite the bad taste it would leave, “Yeah…” An alternate ending to 'Suddenly Everything Has Changed'. Leyton fic.


**AN: I wrote this oneshot because I was bored and I thought that I should make up for not having my When I'm Sleeping chapter up sooner. So anyway, on with the story...**

**Stay**

"But it's better this way, right?"

He nodded, pushing past the lump that tightly rested in his throat, forcing the word out despite the bad taste it would leave, "Yeah…"

It was a lie, a lie that she wanted him to agree with. The truth hurt too much to live with. She wanted the reassurance of a simple lie. It was better for them to be apart. It was a painful thought, made his heart ache for her even more than he could possibly imagine, leaving behind that simple ache and a disgusting taste in his mouth. She needed for him not to fight for her and as much as it hurt him, the look in her eyes made him agree to say that one painful syllable.

Watching her walk away didn't help that ache and each footstep she took away from him was another moment he knew that this was not for the best. They were meant to be together, not apart. He could feel it in his heart; she had felt it in hers too so what had happened to that feeling? At what moment did she lose that feeling? When he was in the hospital? When he was in her room? When she saw Brooke?

He knew it was wrong to betray Brooke, but you can't help who you fall for and he had fallen hard for Peyton Sawyer a long time ago. Before Brooke, before he joined the Ravens, before she had even gotten together with Nathan and now she had finally been within his grasp. They had been so close to happiness, he had been so close to finally getting the girl he had loved since he had first laid eyes on and now it was slipping through his fingers once again and there was nothing he could do about it because she didn't want him to and as much as that hurt, he would respect her wishes because she didn't want him to change her mind.

He watched with sad eyes; pain held so tightly within them as she walked a few more steps ahead before slowly pausing as indecision plagued her and in that moment – that tiny moment of hesitation in her step - he knew. She wanted him to change her mind, and he was going to fight for her because a life without her would be a life too hard to live with at the moment.

"Peyton!" He shouted, getting up from his place on the steps, "Wait!"

"Lucas…" Her voice sounded tired, but she refused to turn around.

Placing a hand on her shoulder he turned her to face him and upon seeing tears in her eyes he pulled her into an embrace. She cared; she cared about him and he wasn't going to give her up.

"We can't Lucas," she mumbled into his chest, griping at his grey hoodie that her tears were seeping through slightly. She pulled back, looking up into his eyes, "What about Brooke?"

"We'll tell her." He replied, resting a hand against her cheek, relishing in the feel of her skin underneath his fingertips, "Sure, she'll be mad but…she'll forgive us eventually."

"You don't know that!" She pulled her head away from his hand as guilt coursed through her veins. She couldn't do this to Brooke. The girl had been there for her for most of her life and she was willing to give it all up for a guy who she had only known properly for a few months, but returning her gaze to his eyes she couldn't help but think that he could know her so much better than any other person would.

In their already short time together, she had felt things she had long ago stopped believing in. If true love existed then he made her feel the first inclinations of it and despite how they had gotten together – the wrongness of the situation with Brooke – he had made her feel so loved and adored that for once in her life she could see a truly happy future. And that look he was giving her was something she knew was the truth; the adoration behind his eyes was real and it made her heart beat faster just knowing that someone could look at her like that.

He leaned his head down and for a moment she feared he would kiss her. She wanted him to kiss her but she knew if he let his lips even gently brush against hers, she would fall and never find a way back. She wouldn't be able to walk away from him, because if truth were told then she was already falling; had been falling since the day he said her art mattered and now he was her only lifeline. His forehead rested against hers, his lips only centimetres apart from her own. She closed her eyes to his light touch as his hand rested against her cheek once more.

His voice was low as he spoke, sending shivers down her spine by the softness of his voice, "I can feel it in my heart that we can work through this mess. You said that you could feel it too…I want you Peyton; I need you in my life because you're the only thing that's good that I have now and if I lose you then…"

"Lucas…"She opened her eyes to find his baby blue ones staring back at her with intensity gleaming within them, "You're not gonna lose me." She watched his eyes filled with hope and hated that she was about to crush that feeling, "We can still be friends," The hope in his eyes died, replaced by something else entirely and she couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly that look in his eyes consisted of,

"Can't we?"

The question was hesitant and she couldn't help but feel scared of what his answer would be. That look unnerved her, made her knees quiver, her skin flush as their foreheads were still closely leaning against each other.

He leaned forward capturing her lips before she could process what was going on and she was lost, becoming part of that never-ending losing battle between love and lust and she knew without reproach or bounds that she was falling into the deep end of love.

She couldn't walk away now, not even if she wanted to.

He leaned back, their foreheads pressed together once more as he huskily whispered, "Can we?" She shook her head, trying to ignore the lightly smirk he gave her because of it. They both knew that being 'just friend' would now be a near impossible thing between them, "So where does that leave us now?"

"Screwed?" she quipped, a small laugh leaving her lips.

"Screwed." He confirmed, nodding, "But screwed is good as long as we're together."

She scoffed, "You won't be saying that when Brooke finds out."

"No, but we'll still be together."

She closed her eyes, feeling a pain throb behind her eyes as she whispered, "I have to go."

He pulled his forehead from hers and she suppressed a moan at the loss of contact. His hand rubbed down her arm until he finally gripped his hand in hers and lightly squeezed it.

"Stay…" he whispered in her ear.

"I can't!"

"Stay," he repeated, planting a kiss on her neck. He moved lower, leaving a trail of kisses to her collarbone, "Stay."

"I don't think your mom will like that." She managed to breathe out, trying to ignore how good his lips felt against her skin.

He groaned, "Way to ruin the moment."

She smirked, "I try my best."

He gaze locked with hers once more, "Stay with me tonight."

"Lucas…" she warned.

"We can just sleep in the same bed. It's not as if we're gonna do anything else. I can't anyway. Doctor's orders."

"Yeah, like it's doctor's orders for you to stay in bed? That's worked out great for you so far." She paused, bringing her finger to her lip, "Hmm…how many times have you left your house today?"

He laughed at that, "Good point, but I needed to see you."

"And you ended up in the hospital." She pointed out matter-of-factly, "Again!"

"Stay with me." He said once more leaning in, placing a soft gentle kiss against her lips causing Peyton to sigh, "Stay."

And with the pleading tone of his voice and the look in his baby blues, she knew she couldn't leave him and truthfully a small part of her was willing to admit that she didn't want to leave him, "Okay."

He raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

She nodded, biting her lip nervously, "Yeah."

Hand in hand they headed inside, neither one knowing that on the other side of the street was Brooke finally realising the whole truth as her heart slowly broke with the knowledge that the two most important people in her life had fallen in love with each other when the she was meant to get the boy in the end. She always got the boy. Peyton was meant to be her best friend, not the one who betrayed her. Now her life was over, she was losing her boyfriend – her first proper love - and her best friend all in the blink of an eye.

Life wasn't fair. At least to Brooke's eyes it wasn't. She sighed as she slowly walked away.

Inside Lucas' bedroom, he smiled against the curly blonde head that was lying on his chest. Her fingertips lightly tapped at the arm he had wrapped around her. When the movement finally stilled, he knew she had fallen asleep

Tightening the grip he had around her, he let himself finally fall asleep, content with the knowledge that he had her in his arms. He only hoped that when he woke up she would still be there in the morning, still encased in his embrace.

The End

**AN: Right, I wasn't sure about how I ended this but...eh, what can you do. So review if you enjoyed...**


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